“The state government has been neglecting the basic demands of the lakhs of debt-ridden cotton farmers who are killing themselves daily, making this one of the most-suicide prone regions in the country,” Tiwari told IANS.

He alleged that the state leadership, dominated by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in western Maharashtra, was diverting funds meant for development of Vidarbha — and now even food and fuel quotas allotted to the region.

The people of the region have been left with no option but to aggressively re-start the demand for “freedom” for a separate Vidarbha state, he added.